Another sobering realization came when comparing the lists of the dead according to the records and the names of those memorialized at Reilly Cemetery (using Elliot's 1972 list). The headstones and monuments commemorate 33 individuals. For these 33 people I have records of only 11. This does not mean we can just automatically triple the number of dead at Reilly Cemetery, but it does raise the possibility that such might well be the case.
Why are there so few records?
I can think of a few answers, but don't quote me on these-- they are just my thoughts on the subject:
a) in the early days maybe there wasn't a minister around to bury the dead
b) some records may have been lost
c) some records are definitely illegible
d) perhaps the minister was away that day burying someone else
e) maybe the minister never got around to writing up the record
Let's look at the information on the headstones of those commemorated at Reilly Cemetery but with no records...
1864 James Shouldice, aged 78 years (Headstone at
RUC)
1864 Sarah Mitchell, wife of John Mahon, aged 82
years
1867 Wm Hindson Bennett, son of W. & M
Bennett, aged 2 year, 4 mos
1874 Francis Cook, wife of Robert Nesbitt, aged 68
years
1875 Jane Mahon, wife of John Riley, aged 68 years
1876 Catherine Alice, daughter of J. & S
Woods, 1 year, 6 months
1877 Alexander Usher, husband of Elizabeth
Courtney, aged 74
1877 Elizabeth Courtney, wife if Alexander Usher,
aged 73
1877 Jane Amanda Riley, daughter of G & E
Riley, aged 2 years, 6 months
1878 Mary Reilly, wife of David Woods, aged 40
years
1880, 1882 Isobel and Jessie, daughters of Andrew
and Elizabeth Hamilton
1881 Anne Dale, wife of Samuel Kennedy, aged 41
years
1886 James Woods, aged 60
1888 John Shouldice, aged 58 years (headstone at
RUC)
1894 Wm Andrew Shannon, son of William and Sarah
Jane Shannon, aged 17 years (headstone at RUC)
1896 David T. Woods, aged 28 years
1899 David Woods, aged 70 years
1899 Sarah Reilly, wife of James Woods, aged 70
years
Undated Two infant children of Henry & Ann
Mitchell
First we have no headstones here of those who died in the very early years of the settlement-- that doesn't mean there are no early settlers buried at Reilly Cemetery-- the confirmed records have two (Sarah Moor and George Johnston Sr). It is quite likely that there wasn't money in the early days for headstones but those two records show that ministers were around from time to time at least. In the 1860s the number without records is more than those with records. Interesting. I actually went down a rabbit hole on this and I don't have an adequate explanation-- at first I thought maybe there wasn't a Methodist minister, there was and he left records of burials in Masham and looking I see I have missed that one on my list so I will have to update the lists. Alas I had no proof reader so my lists are not perfect but they beat no list at all. I will fix.
If we take a quick look at the list above, 8 of the 22 people for which I don't have records were under age 18-- this is to be expected. But is a child as likely to be commemorated as an adult? Two of these monuments commemorate more than one child. Four children have their own monument. Multiple commemorations on one monument is not unusual for adults either so we can't read anything into this really.
Back to the lack of records... I went down another rabbit hole there...
When I was photographing the records there were 8 pages in a row that were totally illegible-- it was like they were bleached out and in that number of records I'd expect to see at least ONE death record, maybe more. Some ministers appeared to write things down on an irregular basis-- you can see this with several births being bunched together, a few marriages in a row, and then deaths after that. My partner in crime and operator of the microfilm reader and I saw this pattern several times in the records. IF the 8 pages were done this way it could explain the lack of records in that period. I'd have to go back and see but I'm pretty sure those were 1860s or 70s. Can't remember which church. So illegible records may explain some of this. But not all. There were deaths with no records across the entire era. Maybe the minister who liked to write them all down in one sitting missed a few.
Maybe the minister was away that day, possibly burying someone else. Alexander Usher and his wife Elizabeth Courtney died 19 days apart and there are no records for either of them. They were in their 70s, and disease often takes the very old and the very young. Can't prove it of course but it sure sounds like disease to me. According to the province of Quebec website, tuberculosis was the most common cause of death in adults in the 19th century. But where was the minister? Why is there no record? We may never know.
I mentioned in an earlier post about the standing stones. I think that the search of the records has confirmed what I long thought, that there are more people buried at Reilly Cemetery than the monuments out front would indicate. Conversely, the lack of records for two thirds of the commemorated (agreeing or disagreeing as the case may be) would support the possibility that there are far more people buried at Reilly Cemetery than the records indicate. I'm wondering if those standing stones I found while doing field work at Reilly Cemetery were indeed grave markers. Are they the graves of children or adults? The very large monuments at Reilly Cemetery are pretty much all commemorating adults. The very small marble monuments all commemorate children except for the round CMK which I believe was a foot stone for Catherin Mitchel Kennedy. If children generally rate small monuments, the standing stones may be predominantly for children. Just a thought. Maybe there are even more children without records than adults...
This is all conjecture...
